After taking a hit with the recession, Barona Speedway is slowly rebuilding its car counts for the 10 classes that run every other Saturday. A race night at Barona should not be confused with the racing you might see on television.

It is grassroots racing without the grass -- bumping and grinding on a banked, clay track wedged between two hills off Wildcat Canyon Road between the Barona Casino and San Diego Country Estates.

But it is low-cost family fun. Adult tickets remain $10, teenagers get in for $5, children 7-12 are admitted for $2 and children six and under walk in free with an adult. Barona has seating for 2,500 spectators, including some seats on the hills.

Another thing unchanged is the schedule. The gates open at noon. Practice and qualifying begin at 3:30 p.m. Racing begins around 5 p.m. and ends by 10:30.

Also unchanged is the track's lineup, which includes modifieds, stock cars, Dwarf cars and two classes for juniors.

Salazar said the champions in all eight classes in 2010 are returning this season to defend their titles. The main classes and past champions:

In addition to the eighth-mile drags, the popular (and legal) alternative to street racing is adding an event that is equal parts drag racing, drifting and slalom during its 6 p.m. to midnight runs on the west access road at Qualcomm Stadium.

Track one on the four-lane strip will be used for regular drag racing.

But six barrels will be place on the second strip. Competitors will circle two to the left and two to the right and slalom through the other two. Finishes will be based on time with no judging of the necessary drifting element.

RaceLegal leader Lydia DeNecochea has named her new event the High-Octane Slide. If it's popular Friday night, it will become a regular part of the RaceLegal program -- as a purse-paying event -- starting in April.

"It's a skill event as well as a drag racing event," said DeNecochea.

Freestyle motocross

Many of the nation's top freestyle motocross riders will be at Valley View Casino Center (formerly the Sports Arena) Friday and Saturday nights.

But it's not a race. Even the promoters bill it as "an action-packed, explosive theatrical production." And practice is called "rehearsal."

Still, freestyle motocrossers defy the laws of gravity with the results of the competition -- synchronized jumps and tricks in the middle of jumps -- based on judges scores.

Cole Whitt: Alpine driver wins the pole and finishes eighth in the race to move into second in NASCAR Camping World Trucks standings.

Del Worsham: Beats seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher in the Gatornationals finals to become the 15th driver to win Top Fuel and Funny Car events.

RED FLAG

IndyCar: Drivers take offense to $5 million offered any driver from another series who can win Las Vegas season finale when such tour veterans as Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Paul Tracy can't find jobs in 2011.

SCHEDULE

Friday

RaceLegal.com Drags: Qualcomm Stadium, west access road, 6 p.m. to midnight. In addition to the regular one-eighth-mile drag races, the track will host the inaugural High-Octane Slide which includes elements of drifting, drag racing and slalom.

Freestyle Motocross: Valley View Casino Center, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

NASCAR Nationwide Series: Scotts EZ Seed 300, Bristol, Tenn. (300 laps, .533-mile oval; ESPN, 10 a.m.) -- Defending champ Justin Allgaier scored his first win at Thunder Valley last year. Mark Martin won at Las Vegas on March 5 for his record 49th Nationwide victory. Danica Patrick was fourth, the best finish ever by a female driver in a national NASCAR race. Kyle Busch won the August race at Bristol. His win at Phoenix gave him 44 wins in the series, second all-time to Martin.

NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jeff Byrd 500, Bristol, Tenn. (500 laps; Channel 5, 9:30 a.m.) -- Jimmie Johnson scored his first Bristol win last year. Carl Edwards won at Las Vegas two weeks ago. Kyle Busch has won three of the last four races and four of the last eight at Bristol. Last August, he completed an unprecedented Trucks-Nationwide-Sprint Cup sweep. The tour is at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana next weekend.